Tag Archives: Anaheim Ducks

Whether he’s residing in the East or out on the West Coast, some things never change for Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau.

Regardless of where he’s behind the bench, he doesn’t like or respect the Flyers.

On Saturday, after his Ducks debut was spoiled on Friday night at the Honda Center with a 4-3 comeback overtime win by the Flyers the night prior, Boudreau couldn’t help but commend his club for some good things, discuss the emotional week, and oh yeah, trash the Flyers for diving.

Impressive so far, now lets see if the Flyers can handle a little adversity.

After consulting a foot specialist, the Flyers officially announced on Friday that defenseman Chris Pronger has a broken first metatarsal in his right foot and will require surgery. The veteran and keystone of Philadelphia’s blue line will miss 4-6 weeks, or as Sam Carchidi of the Inquirer added up, 11-17 games. Pronger, who has four goals and 11 assists in 31 games, should be available to return by Feb. 1.

Pronger, 36, injured his foot in Philadelphia’s 5-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.

While recovering from a blood infection that has kept him off the ice since Dec. 8, 2009, the 26- year-old former Flyer and current Anaheim Ducks forward announced on Monday that he has been diagnosed with yet another blood infection.

Lupul, a Flyer from 2007-09, missed all but two months of the 2009-10 season and is expected to miss training camp and the start of the regular season.

One day before the Flyers travel to Florida for a five-day team building trip, Flyers’ coach John Stevens explains his thoughts on the team’s heartbreaking 3-2 shootout loss to Anaheim on Saturday. Teemu Selanne scored two third-period goals, including one to tie the game with 16-seconds remaining.

“When you lose a game like that it stings and I hate losing,” Stevens said. “There was a breakdown on the first goal and after looking at the second goal about 100 times, there is a couple things we can address and do better. But sometimes great players make great plays. Every guy on the ice at that time has come to us and asked if they could have done something differently, (the Ducks) just made a great play in that situation.”

Despite back-to-back losses, the Flyers have earned seven of a possible 10 points in the first five games of the season. A big change over the team’s 0-3-3 record after the first six games of the 2008-09 season.

“Our team is playing hard,” Stevens said. “We like the thing we’ve done in the games. We’ve been out chancing the other team, the power play moving the puck great, Ray (Emery) has been sharp in the net. Lots of good things to like after the first five games.”

The Flyers will be back in action on Oct. 16 against the Florida Panthers.

The Flyers and Ducks are an interesting match up at any time because of the organizational similarities. Both teams covet the same toughness and grit in their players and that earns mutual respect between the franchises. It’s no coincidence that Anaheim’s top young talent Bobby Ryan is a Philadelphia native. And it’s also no coincidence that when the Flyers needed a tough and skilled defenseman in the offseason, they went after the long-coveted Ducks’ blue liner Chris Pronger.

Notorious playboy and underachiever Joffrey Lupul, has been traded three times since being drafted seventh overall by Anaheim in 2002. But after two growing years in Philadelphia, Lupul finds himself back in his old stomping grounds of California. And this time, he is carrying a much different mindset.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot,” Lupul told Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register. “I want to make a breakthrough. I’ve always been the secondary scorer, the guy who’s been pretty productive but hasn’t really taken a lead role. I want to change that this year, to go up a notch.”

When 18-year old Luca Sbisa was traded to Anaheim in the blockbuster deal for defenseman Chris Pronger, many Flyers’ fans believed that despite the loss of the popular blue line standout, Sbisa would be moving on to a good situation in California.

About

Ryan Bright (Philabright@gmail.com) is a sports writer, born and raised in the Philadelphia area. A graduate of West Chester University, he has been with the Daily Local News in Chester County since early 2007, working as the paper's college and high school ice hockey beat writer. In 2010, began as a contributer for CSNPhilly.com, covering the Flyers and the Philadelphia Union.

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